10 detained as police seize almost 400 ‘magic’ sweets in São Tomé das Letras
Police detained 10 people and seized almost 400 ‘brisadeiros’ and other ‘magic’ sweets in São Tomé das Letras on 22 March 2025, including 15 cannabis palhas italianas. Health officials said 13 people needed care after eating the sweets in January and February, with no new cases by June after the alert and operation.
Military police detained 10 people in São Tomé das Letras, Minas Gerais, on the
night of Saturday 22 March 2025 in an operation against street sales of food
adulterated with hallucinogenic substances.[1][2][3]Those held were eight men aged
24 to 42 and two women aged 27 and 29, who were taken to the station, heard and
released.[1]Those detained and the collected material were sent to the police
station in Três Corações.[1][3]Police opened an inquiry and the case remained
under investigation.[1][3]
The operation, called Fake, involved 20 officers working across the city.[1]The reports said the magic sweets may contain synthetic drugs, mushrooms and
marijuana in their composition.[1][3]The city health network had recorded at
least 13 attendances linked to the sweets, with people kept under observation
reporting hallucinations, vomiting and diarrhoea.[4]
The city had warned tourists about foods sold under names such as brisadeiros,
brisamelos, magic brownies, brigaconha and magic sweets, which may contain
hallucinogenic substances.[4][2]The municipal alert said the products may
contain illicit substances such as cannabis, as well as psychotropic medicines
and hallucinogenic mushrooms.[4][2]Health surveillance said warnings were its
tool because artisanal free-trade food considered low risk cannot be banned or
collected by inspectors.[4]After the surveillance and police actions, sales
of adulterated products fell.[4]
Photos and video
Hundreds of seized sweets displayed after the operation. Photo: Divulgação/PMMGPhoto details
G1 Sul de Minasg1.globo.comPTOperação policial prende 10 pessoas e apreende ‘brisadeiros’ e ‘doces mágicos’ em São Tomé das Letras
BHAZbhaz.com.brPTCentenas de ‘brisadeiros’ e ‘doces mágicos’ são apreendidos em São Tomé das Letras
G1 Sul de Minasg1.globo.comPTRetrospectiva 2025: depois de intoxicações e apreensões, São Tomé das Letras registra alívio nos casos ligados a 'doces mágicos'
G1 Sul de Minasg1.globo.comPTApós alerta e apreensão de produtos, São Tomé das Letras não tem novos atendimentos médicos por efeitos dos ‘brisadeiros’
Open questions the AI reported
No weight was published for the seized sweets, so no kilograms of cannabis can be recorded.
The almost-400 total mixes cannabis items with 70 magic mushrooms and other sweets only described as possibly containing marijuana among synthetic drugs and other substances, so no combined count is treated as cannabis.
Only 15 items were explicitly described as cannabis palhas italianas, with no separate weight or test result published.
The detailed breakdown adds to 395 items, reported as almost 400.
No charges were reported; the 10 detainees were heard and released, and the outcome of the police inquiry was not reported.
The incident date of 22 March 2025 comes from the operation report's night of Saturday 22 March; the follow-up gives only March.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in G1 Sul de Minas: Police listed the seizure as 200 brisadeiros, 70 magic brownies, 40 magic cookies, 70 magic mushrooms and 15 cannabis palhas italianas.
The BHAZ account does not give the operation's name or the number of officers involved, so those details remain supported only by the earlier G1 account.
The retrospective gives no figure for plants, kilograms or cannabis-specific items in the seizure; the almost-400 total mixes cannabis sweets, magic mushrooms and products only described as possibly containing cannabis.
The retrospective repeats the March 2025 account from the same newsroom and adds no new court development; the inquiry's outcome is still unreported.
Highway military police arrested a 20-year-old driver on 11 November 2026 with 400.8 kilograms of marijuana in an Argo on SP-613 at kilometre 75.5 in Rosana, São Paulo. They valued the seizure at 1.2 million reais and took him to the Federal Police in Presidente Prudente, where he remained in custody.
Military police arrested seven suspected drug traffickers in the Água Branca neighbourhood of Contagem and seized 218 kg of cannabis. The suspects, all with prior criminal records, were taken to the Contagem Civil Police station for investigation.
Civil Police arrested three men from Amazonas in a house in Cinturão Verde, Boa Vista, on 10 November 2026 with 201.5 kg of cannabis derivatives, including hashish and cannabis oil. Police valued the load at R$15 million and said it was meant for Rio de Janeiro; the men were booked for trafficking.
Military Police arrested a 36-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman and a 39-year-old buyer during a raid on a suspected drug point in Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais, on 10 November 2026. Officers seized two cannabis tablets alongside crack, cocaine, three phones, bookkeeping notes and R$2,474 in cash, transferring all three to the Civil Police.
